The building is based on a modular plan (shown here) that pays homage to one of the oldest traditions in architecture. It is the proportion of 1x2 (the same as that of a domino), in which two squares are joined or split. In traditional Japanese architecture, it is the proportion of the 3x6 foot floor mat (the tatami), multiples of which were arranged to determine the shape of a room. As you walk through the building, look for allusions to this pattern on the walls, in the windows, and so on.

The Kamerick Art Building was designed by a Des Moines-based architect named H. Kennard Bussard of Bussard-Dikis Associates. At the front of the building is a commissioned sculpture by Walter Dusenbery, titled Porta Largo (1985).

Architect’s model of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts complex, with the plaza in the center (c1985).